Making this House a Home

The long downstairs area was a bit tough to figure out,
but I think between Dad and I we figured out a good layout.

John put together the pantry (center) since there wasn't
one in the kitchen.

It's been almost two weeks since we unlocked my back door for the first time, and it's been a super busy between moving in and my first days at work.

So far, I've met two of my neighbors and spent about 30 minutes chatting with them on the first visit. I'm in a changing neighborhood - my row of houses is half black and half white tenants. While it used to be a less than desirable place to be because of crime, it's changing every day. People like my neighbor Laila won't stand for that shit. That's the attitude of lots of people on the block - we're a strong, healthy neighborhood and we won't tolerate criminal activity.

Anyway, my POD arrived and John supervised the less than cordial attitude of the driver frustrated by the tight situation. Within a few hours, however, John and Dad had everything emptied into the house, and the POD was picked up less than 48 hours later.

A week later, I'm still organizing nearly nonstop. Most of the kitchen boxes (the largest number for any room - surprise//1) have been emptied and the necessary cleaning is complete. Praise the Lord I got my laundry done (with the nice new matching w/d set) and have clean things to wear, though I was disappointed to realize things won't dry terribly well in the basement. I have more cardboard than I know what to do with now!

I'm pretty antsy to unpack my books and
set up my library.

Internet (slow but secure) is also up and running. Almost all of my books are upstairs, but the bookcases aren't up yet since I can't find those damn little pegs used to put up the shelves - it's stuff like that that makes moving so hard.  I'm also  realizing what kinds of furniture I need (in time and at the right price), and plan to hit up local garage sales and used furniture stores for anything without cloth (i.e. not a couch or chair).

Work has been busy as well - it's basically been a thrown-into-the-deep-end kind of experience, which isn't too traumatic for me since I learn by doing and I'm used to a chaotic environment. The way this office uses technology makes my old office look like all we had were glorified typewriters  - we chat, we use Yammer (basically like Twitter for just our office, resulting in wonderful HR nightmares), everything is uploaded and worked on online, etc. I love it because it really facilitates faster, more effective communication and a better company culture instead of constantly interrupting each other, sending emails, etc.

This is the spare room. Mine looks a lot like it but
without the balcony door and much messier!

I've been working primarily on writing copy for a website redesign for a health system, which means it's pretty much the same story as before - I get to write about lovely things like colonoscopies and prostate surgery. (I was so naive to think I left behind writing disgusting phrases like "projectile diarrhea" when I left Guitar Veterinary Services). There's nothing like asking, over the phone in the middle of a room full of tech guys quietly coding away, "Can you explain what a patient can expect during an in-office vasectomy?"

I do wish there was a half bath downstairs, but this works.

I've also functioned as a floater, helping with other projects as needed and as I can, which has allowed me to learn some company-specific software by simply jumping in and doing it. And everyone is so busy that I'm trusted to ask the right questions and get it done, which is nice. There's definitely a sense of teamwork to achieve company goals. I experienced that willingness to help out my first week when I put a Yammer post out about needing help transferring info to my new work computer and three people jumped in to make it happen within minutes!

Last week, we were told that the company structure will be changing somewhat - not an unexpected change given the growth we're experiencing, but growing pains are anticipated nonetheless. For me, that means I'll be taking on a lot of the duties of my manager and, I think, essentially be the primary (but not only!) copywriter on staff. I think the change comes at a good time for me since I'm not really attached to any particular way of doing things so as long as it's for the better, it should be simple for me.

Overall, I think being homesick hasn't set in because I'm so busy and John's here, though he'll probably need to be gone by the end of June. We tried a Mexican restaurant the other day and it was sub-standard as expected, but other than that, it hasn't truly hit me that I'm so far from home. I'm sure it will catch up eventually.

A quick summary of everything else:

• Yes I've looked at the Taylor Daily Press website a few times, and it seems to be the same headache as before. I'm so glad I didn't have to work Election Day this weekend!

• I'm still working to clear up all of the Austin apartment (the bedbugs one) nonsense. Thank God everything has gone smoothly with this landlord, though there was some disagreement over blinds - they said they don't provide them, but they took down the ones that were here and would put them back up for a fee. I picked my battles and had Dad do it while he was here, among many other Dad jobs.

• John and I have both been taking runs about every other day. We don't go together (he used to run cross country so I'm not even going to put myself up against that), but we take Paparazzi and he seems to enjoy it, even if it doesn't entirely wear him out.

• I think I've finally sorted out my mail forwarding situation; a pile of it was sitting in Austin, but it's moving along now. Email me if you need my new address. I might also be getting a new phone number since I keep getting unwanted sales calls about health insurance and furthering my education...

• I'm hoping to have my spare bedroom rented out by early next month, but I have to get an actual bed first and take pictures of my place when it's not a cardboard explosion.